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Before we talk about us, let’s talk about you. Some of the things below might or might not apply to you but are based on other entrepreneurs’ reflections and opinions.

You have a business idea. Very nice!

You work full time on your business idea from home but working from home can be very distracting. We know…

You have worked for a while on your business idea. You have done a lot of things; from setting up the company, designing and building your company’s website, designing the digital marketing strategy. Still something might be missing in order for your idea to fly.

As an entrepreneur you feel isolated; your friends do not understand what you are trying to achieve because they have a 9-5 job. They are asking you how is it going with your business every week – out of interest- but you don’t have anything new to say because things don’t happen overnight.

You think it is difficult to find like minded people to exchange ideas.

You have worked so hard and now you are stuck and you need some piece of advice of how to proceed with your business. Ideally for free.

First of all, nobody said that building your own company is going to be easy. As we said before when it comes to companies for every success story, there are also a lot more that failed. If it makes you feel any better, you are not on your own; there is a high possibility that entrepreneurs are facing or are going to face at least one or more of the above bullet points, especially when their business is at an early stage.

It is often the case that a business has to pay its way in with cash or equity in order to be part of an accelerator or incubator. But that is not the always the case. There is at least one group of Business Accelerators in different cities across the UK that actually is completely free to participate.Entrepreneurial Spark is powered by Natwest. We applied for the 3 month Sprinter Programme in the Esparks Manchester Hub in January and we got accepted in May.

So far it has been amazing! First of all, you realize that you are not on your own and other business owners face the same obstacles like you. Or even better they have already faced them and you can get some piece of constructive advice. We are already one month in our Sprint Programme and it is very obvious to us that the people of Esparks Manchester Hub are putting a lot of effort in order to create a Programme tailored to the needs of the businesses accepted in the accelerator. So the Programme is continuously evolving and adjusting its self according to the needs of the entrepreneurs.

But if we could summarize the perks of joining Esparks Manchester Hub, that would be;

You can get business training. From developing a positive mindset to pitching.

You can at last network with like minded people in an informal environment.

You get support and advice. From other business owners to business advisors and mentors- when you are in a later stage. They help you and you…can pay it forward by helping other people.

You can get work space and internet access.

You have to set goals and you work on achieving your own goals within the time frame you have set. You are also held accountable for achieving your goals.

You can get access to investment -when you are in a later stage.

You can get technical, legal and financial advice from Esparks Partners such as KPMG, Dell and Pinsent Masons.

Last but not least. You get coffee!

So basically you get what you might have been lacking so far; some structure – plus coffee. And all that for free! Yes, you ‘ve heard correct! You don’t have to pay anything!

We would definitely recommend it, if you are in the beginning of setting your own business and you feel a bit lost. Even if you don’t feel lost, we would still recommend it. It is impossible to know everything your business idea needs in order to grow.

Thank you very much! You ‘ve been fantastic and we hope you enjoyed it!

We are only going to focus on UK Higher Education Institution (HEI) student enrollments in this analysis. According to the collected data and the following graph, HE Institutions in the UK have in the year 2015-2016 272000 less students enrolled compared to the year 2009-2010. That is a 10,66% decrease in student numbers.

Although we are only going to focus on what happened between the 2009-2016 period, it is worth having a look at how was the Higher Education system prior to the 2009-2016, as some decisions taken before may have influenced the number of student enrollments.

UK Higher Education system prior to 2009

Before September 1998 students enrolled in UK HEI did not pay tuition fees. In July 1997 the Dearing Report was published suggesting that University tuition fees should be introduced. In September 1998 students enrolled in UK Universities start paying GBP 1000 \ annum.

In 2004 and under the Higher Education Act 2004, tuition fees caps can be raised and Universities in the England can charge up to GBP3000 \ annum starting from the academic year 2006-2007. This measure is introduced in Northern Ireland the same year, while Welsh Universities raise their tuition fees in accordance to the HE Act in 2007-2008.

2009-2016

In 2009-2010, the year we have data for, the tuition fees are raised from GBP3000 to GBP3250 \ annum.

Following the Browne review the tuition fees cap was raised and in December 2010 it was announced that the tuition fees are going to be raised starting from September 2012 from GBP3250 to GBP9000\ annum.

If you see the graph, the academic year 2011-2012 enrollments across the UK are decreased slightly, followed by a 6,88% drop in student enrollments the following year. By September 2014, universities in the UK have almost 300k less students enrolled compared to its pick in the year 2010-2011. Student enrollments only bounce back up slightly for the year 2015-2016 (+0,65%).

But let’s see what happened so far in each of the UK constituent parts.

England

Student enrollment in Universities in England follow the same trend as seen in the UK student enrollments for the same period. That is not a surprise as Universities in England attract more than 80% of University enrollments in the UK.

Scotland

On the other hand, while the UK has seen a general drop in University enrollments starting from 2010-2011, enrollments in Scottish Universities dropped slightly for only two years (2011-2012 and 2012-2013). Since 2013 enrollments in Scottish Universities have increased by almost 10%.

You are probably wondering why. The answer is simple. Following devolution in 1999 the Government of Scotland brought its own Act on tuition fees. So when in England the tuition fees were raised in 2012-2013, the Scottish Government kept the the tuition fees for Scottish and EU students lower compared to tuition fees in England . Currently tuition fees in Scotland are GBP 1825 \ annum for a full time undergraduate degree and at GBP 3400 \ annum for a full time postgraduate degree. Students from RUK (England, Wales, and Northern Ireland) would currently have to pay between GBP6750 and GBP7400 \ annum to complete a undergraduate study in a Scottish University and GBP 3400\ annum for a postgraduate course. The tuition fees for 2017/2018 are going to remain the same for Scottish and students coming from the EU while the tuition fees for postgraduate students coming from England, Wales and Northern Ireland can be up to GBP 9000 \ annum.

Wales

Welsh Universities have seen a drop of more than 22% in student enrollments since their 2011-2012 pick. Although there is not a simple explanation why student enrollments in the UK fluctuate over the years, the decrease of students in Welsh Universities can be attributed to:

a) University mergers that took place between 2011 and 2013

and

b) The raise of the tuition fees, which for students coming from the UK and the EU are currently the same as in English Universities -GBP 9000\ annum- and they intent to stay the same for the year 2017-2018.

Northern Ireland

Student enrollments in Universities in NI follow the same trend as enrollments in Scottish Universities with an increase of 8.34% in student enrollments since 2009.

One of the reasons that might explain the increase in enrollments is that the full time students from NI and the EU member countries pay GBP4030 \ annum for an undergraduate degree, while tuition fees for students from England, Wales and Scotland can be up to GBP 9000 per year. Again, as in Scotland, tuition fees in Wales are much lower for local and EU students respectively compared to the tuition fees in Universities in England.

The future

On the 23rd of June 2016 EU membership referendum took place across the UK and the result shows that the UK is going to leave the EU with any impact that that might have for EU student enrollments in UK Universities. The latest UCAS analysis regarding applications for the March deadline show a decrease in applications from the UK (-4%) and from the EU (-6%) compared to the March 2016 deadline.

Tuition fees in England are going to be raised again starting from September 2017 at GBP 9250 per year.

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We talked so far a lot about entrepreneurship and we had our data-crunching-visualisation moments. But we haven’t said much about what Academous is going to be and how it will work. So this short video we made explains a lot! Enjoy!

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We crunched once again the data from the latest World University Rankings published by THES, QS, CWUR and Shanghai Ranking Consultancy (ARWU) and we present them to you as per Economic Organisation (OECD countries, BRICS and Rest of the World).